About the exam

USMLE Step 1

• Consists of 7 blocks of questions (Blocks 1-6 are 40 questions and your last block can be a variable amount eg. I had 28 questions in my last block)
• Exam is 8 hours long with 1 hour of break and 7 hours of testing
• So as you can see, this test is not only based on knowledge but on resilience and stamina. Which means that you must prepare for not only the material but also on taking an 8 hour exam.
• Additionally no longer will questions be testing you solely on one discipline (eg. Pathology, Pharmacology etc) but rather you must decipher what it is that they are trying to tell you from the clues in the stem and then use your knowledge to pick the suitable answer which can be in terms of biochemistry (eg. Enzymes), histology (eg. How it looks normally under a microscope), Histopathologically (eg. How it looks under a microscope in a diseased state), Pathologically (using symptoms), Genetically (Autosomal Recessive or Dominant), Immunologically (which IL or function), Physiologically (using graphs, equations or physiological changes), Pharmacologically (what drug, or mechanism) and Microbiologically (what organism or mechanism)
• For this reason, this is why people recommend 6-8 weeks to prepare for it (essentially the same length of the  entirety of term 3). In this time, you don’t learn much new but rather you fill in gaps and strengthen your weaknesses and this is also why you don’t need much more time than that because except for the couple things that we didn’t learn in Med school, the rest is just to review what you did and become a good test taker.
• No one ever feels 100% prepared for the exam but the idea here is to peak right before the exam, because when you reach your peak, and you do not take the test, then your memory starts to decline and you become exhausted from the rigorousness of these couple weeks.
• SO trust in yourself and do not doubt your method of studying. Try to take some practice assessments so that you can monitor your progress and not be shocked a week before the exam.

 

My actual Step day

7:20 am – Arrive at test center

8:00 am – I start the check-in process and have everything set up for my test. They give me a whiteboard paper and marker (pro tip : if you are wearing a jacket, leave it inside the test room because they will make you take it off everytime you need to go back in to check it)

8:30 am or so: – Start my first block

9:30 – First break to use the washroom and sip of coffee

9:35 – Resumed and started block 2

From here the times got blurry but it went like this

Block 2

5 Minute break (sip of coffee and ate protein bar)

Block 3

5 Minute break (finished coffee and munched on some berries)

Block 4

10 minute break (Lunch)

Block 5

5 minute break (Munched on some nuts)

Block 6

2-3 minute break (ate a protein bar, applied oil on my hand and took 1/3 caffeine pill)

Block 7

2-3 minute break (ate my chocolate, applied oil on hand)

Block 8

Finish!

My survival kit (for the day)

• Coffee cup with my favorite coffee
• Earplugs (lose the plastic case)
• 2 or 3 bottles of water
• 1 ziploc bag filled with fruits (berries, carrots etc)
• 1 ziploc bag with nuts
• 1 ziploc bag with 2 peanut butter sandwiches / Salmon sandwiches (keep it light)
• Eye drops (avoid wearing contacts as you will be staring at a screen for 8 hours! Unless you are used to it)
• Small bottle of peppermint oil (really nice to just put a dab on your hand and smell it when you get to last couple blocks to give a boost and arouse you)
• 2 Protein bars
• Chocolate (your favorite chocolate to give you some dopamine towards the end)
• Bottle of caffeine pills

Yes it is a lot, but I wanted to make sure I had everything covered